Best Ever Chicken and Rice Pie Recipe

Jay wanted to start making something different for dinners we cook. He mentioned this chicken and rice pie he used to make when he was younger with his Mom. She couldn't remember the recipe and after some serious google'ing we didn't find anything that matched quite right. After a few mediocre attempts at creating the original it morphed into something more delicious and more amazing. In the post I will leave you with the basic Sun Dried Tomato and Artichoke Recipe. You can replace the tomatoes and artichokes with whatever you feel fit but this is the variation we found had the most flavor. This dinner is best paired with a rich oakey buttery Chardonnay. Here is the link to my Chardonnay recommendations I would add a vegetable on the side or we usually do a salad.

Few cloves of garlic finely chopped (I used roasted garlic this time around)

1-juicy lemon

1/2- cup of half & half

1- can of cream of chicken and mushroom soup (Campbells preferably)

1- package of refrigerated pie crust (you'll need 2 crusts total)

2- cups of cooked white rice (I use basmati but you could probably use instant if your in a time crunch)

1- bottle of white drinking wine (you'll use 1/2 cup of this in your pie)

4-6 - Hard boiled eggs sliced ( I include these for extra protein)

Butter and good olive oil- you'll only need a few tablespoons

Directions:

First start by getting all of your chopping done. You want the cuts pretty small. Get a large skillet that would hold your ingredients plus the can of soup and liquids. Put on medium to medium high heat.

Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a table spoon of butter

Add chopped garlic and saute for a minute (do not burn garlic. If you burn garlic you must start over)

Add chopped onion and celery

Cook for a few minutes until the veggies sweat out.

In the mean time shred your chicken and prepare hard boiled eggs (leftover shredded chicken from the rotisserie would be great in a salad for lunch the next day.)

Add can of cream of chicken soup and some half and half I say no more than a full cup (you want the content in the skillet to be thicker than a soup but need some liquid for the rice to soak up)

Add chicken and squeeze a table spoon or so of lemon juice (feel free to add a little lemon zest)

Stir and taste. Now would be a good time to add salt, pepper, maybe some oregano or any other spices you feel fit.

Let this simmer a minute and prepare the bottom pie crust. It helps if you spray the pan with a little pam beforehand.

Add 1 cup of cooked white rice above the pie crust.

Layer on 1 cup or more of the chicken mix

Put your chopped eggs on top

Layer 1 more cup of rice

Layer 1 cup or more of mixture

Hard boiled eggs again

Lastly finish off with the last of the chicken mix.

Put on the top pie crust and bake!

This will bake for approx. 60 mins. If the top appears to be burning either add foil on top or move to a lower rack on oven.

When it's done there is really no easy way to cut into it. It isn't the most presentable dinner on the planet but I can promise you it is FULL of flavor!! Jay and I have probably made this about 6 times to perfect the recipe so you'll just have to take our word for it and try! If you don't want to go through this elaborate process there are some shortcuts you can take but it would probably not be as good. The cool thing about this meal is once you get the process down you could do any version of this you like!! Broccoli and Cheddar? Spinach and Artichoke? Mushroom and Asparagus? Mexican style? Get creative with it!! This recipe is just a template!